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Monday, August 10, 2015

Mysterious hands at work – K. Haridas

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Mysterious events take place in Malaysia. There seems to be no one accountable or courageous enough to say that they have been directed to take a particular course of action. Take the Altantunya case, where the lawyer for late private detective P.I. Bala laments that in his entire experience in the Bar, it is unprecedented for the prosecution, the defence and the judge to be all changed so soon before the trial.
Amazing, that such things happen in our country which boasts about its democracy and separation of powers.
Well, we all know what transpired. In the statement given from the dock by Corporal Sirul Azhar during the trial, he stated that “he is the black sheep who has to be sacrificed to protect unnamed persons”.
One cannot doubt the veracity of the confession for it contains details that only the accused could have known, says the lawyer. In the same light, questions regarding incentives offered, protecting unnamed persons and being made a black sheep should not be taken lightly. This information is available in the public domain, as indicated by the lawyer. What is mysterious is that the proceedings never addressed these two issues. Who offered the money, who gave the orders and who are the unnamed persons being protected?
This seems to have been appropriately missed during the entire trial. This information was all part of the cautioned statement that was provided. Again, were there mysterious hands at work? Any ordinary individual listening and learning about these facts would have serious misgivings regarding credibility and interference.
Now we witness raids on Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) officials. Their investigating officers are being interrogated by the police and their computers taken away. The MACC chief seems to be away on holiday overseas. The attorney-general has been prematurely dumped in an unceremonious manner and there are rumours that another task force member, the governor of Bank Negara, may also be replaced.
The deputy IGP says that they are investigating and that there are no hands behind the scene directing them. I would believe the deputy IGP if there were earlier precedents of such independent action by the police. At the moment, a large number of citizens do not hold the police in high esteem. The deputy IGP may be right in that he has received orders from his boss, the IGP.
Who has directed his boss is a matter under the Official Secrets Act, the domain where all lies will be laid to rest. How are we to detect the “unseen hand” in all these acts? With a trust deficit touching RM2.6 billion, the credibility of the ruling government, not to speak of the prime minister himself, is at an all-time low.
The situation is bad because no one seems to accept responsibility. There is fear for this could result in a loss of jobs and all the perks that go with being a government servant. Can the directive be from the PM or the DPM? Speculations at best, but to say that there is no one pulling the strings of the “wayang kulit” is to pour scorn on the general public and citizens at large.
These actions do not endear the government or the PM to the public. The world is laughing at us and our nation’s credibility is going down the chute. The capacity to stand up and express a different view is difficult when bred in a culture of rent seeking, patronage, money and power.
One appreciates the challenges that the likes of the late Tun Suffian and Tan Sri Ahmad Nordin, men of conscience and conviction, had to face. They were men of independent convictions who laboured during their lives and were not obligated to anyone. That is why they had the spine and the guts to call a spade a spade.
Meanwhile we have Tan Sri Shahir Samad of the Barisan Nasional (BN) Backbenchers Club confirming that both Bank Negara and Inland Revenue knew about the RM2.6 billion that was deposited into Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s bank account. They now claim that this was a political donation. Amazing that Najib could in Johor say that some Umno divisions have benefitted from these donations and that they were now being unfair to him by questioning him in this regard.
How can the PM rationalise away such a large donation which perhaps saved the ruling party and now keeps them in power? Truth, integrity and personal honesty cannot be rationalised, however noble your intentions may be. A wrong act is a wrong act. That others before him have done so does not mitigate the wrong. The reality is that he is now caught and stands to answer. The law is the same for all of us.
What is happening both to Umno and BN? To have received more than two and a half billion as political donation is shocking. This alone morally and ethically convicts the PM and his party and one can understand the challenge that MACC now poses, hence the fear tactics being employed to curb their independence. 
Does this imply that our last election was bought with foreign money? If this was done by DAP, they would have been deregistered and their leaders jailed for being unpatriotic.
This may be the shaping of MACC, and I salute the guts and courage of MACC officers to stand up for their convictions. The Business Ethics Institute of Malaysia is with you and stands with your officers, for there is no use talking about ethics and integrity when the actions taken indicate otherwise. We have to stop the preaching and stress on application and practice. This is the most serious test regarding the independence of MACC.
When will Umno have the guts and courage to address these very challenging issues? Otherwise they will continue to lose credibility both as a political party and the leadership they offer. Do the members love Umno more or their president and will they hold onto transparency and accountability in relation to how they manage their affairs and the affairs of the nation?
People in power can never be as objective as the citizen. This is because power centres always attract around them people who all the time want only to please them.
The citizens have no axe to grind and what is there in the public domain and the statements made is clear enough. Debt or donation, this matter has to be seriously investigated and the PM would be wise to step down and let the citizens be informed by an independent investigation as to whether this is a serious issue that needs to be dealt with by the A-G and the police.
Without fear or favour, with justice before us and God to guide us, let us do what is right in the interest of the nation and its future, in the interest of our children and their future. It is no longer a question of accommodation or forgiving. It is a matter of what is right, and only an independent investigation that does not report to the executive can get us to the truth of the matter. It is also not fair for Najib to be continuously tormented by this issue. An urgent independent closure is needed.
Aldous Huxley once said, “Experience is not what happens to a person. It is what the person does with what happens to him or her.” It is only by facing the challenge and being honest and candid can there be a closure to these events. This is what character calls for in leaders at moments of serious crisis.
* K. Haridas reads The Malaysian Insider.

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